Interesting MMAWeekly.com article

MMAWeekly.com has an interesting article on the myths surrounding MMA up. Rami Genauer says he's going to take on the myths surrounding MMA one at a time, and discuss whether they're real, imagined, or even relevant. First up is the idea that the cage is safer than the ropes. What do y'all think?
Personally, I like the cage. I call it a cage, not an octagon, which is hard to say and remember to say. A cage is a cage. Rami makes a good point about the negative aspects of the term "cage" in people's minds, but there's other things that the cage is connected to mentally that are either neutral or positive (though I'm having trouble making a positive connection), stuff like bird cages, toll cages, etc. Positive: batting cage. Hm. Just thinking out loud.
I alos like the fact that you almost never need a restart in the cage. In Pride, with the long first round, the restart isn't a huge deal, but I still hate the idea of pausing the action. I think the ref should count to three on the ground, and if one fighter isn't improving position or delivering blows, then they stand up. Action is what gets the sport where it's going.
I'd love to hear other opinions, though.